chapter five

Damian lay with his hands hooked behind his head, watching as dawn sent beams of light across the bedroom. He could see a tiny bird dipping itself in the pool, playing innocently, blissfully unaware of the possibility of danger.

It reminded him of Sophia.

Next to him, she stirred. With a moan, she flung her arm over her eyes. ‘Turn the light off. Ugh—how can you be so thoughtless? It’s giving me a headache.’

He turned his head to look at her, remembering how frank and open she’d been. He was starting to understand why her father was so overprotective. She was a sitting duck for any unscrupulous individual that happened to come along.

And now she was lying in his bed.

His bed. In his house, where no woman had stayed the night before. The house he’d built from nothing after Alexander Leonidas had ripped everything from his family.

Now he lay in silk sheets, but he never forgot how it had felt to lie on the cold, hard ground with the smell of rotting food in his nostrils. He never forgot the pain of seeing someone he loved laughing with someone he hated.

Damian reached out and pushed her tangled blonde hair away from her face, remembering how open she’d been with him. It was the champagne, of course. ‘It’s called the sun. It’s morning and your headache has nothing to do with the light.’

She peeled her eyelids open gingerly. For a moment she stared at him, as if trying to work something out. Those eyes slid from his bare shoulders to his abdomen and lower to—

‘You’re naked?’ She shot up in bed and then groaned and immediately flopped back down again. ‘Oh, my God, that hurts.’

There was something hopelessly endearing about her lack of sophistication. ‘Yes, I’m naked. And so are you. That generally happens when two people spend the night together.’ He waited for his words to sink in. Watched as her eyes widened and a faint colour touched her pale cheeks.

There would be regret, he knew. She would shoot out of his bed, accuse him of taking advantage of her and that would be the end of that. Except he would have taught her a lesson life hadn’t yet taught her. To be cautious of people.

Next time she’d be more careful.

Next time she wouldn’t drink so much with a man she didn’t know—especially a man with his reputation.

Next time she’d know better than to trust someone like him.

‘You undressed me and I don’t even remember it.’ Her voice was muffled by the pillow. ‘I bet that was fun for you. I don’t feel too good. Could I have a drink, please?’

‘More champagne? That was your favourite drink last night.’

The sound from her throat was a whimper. ‘NO, not champagne. I’m never drinking again. It hurts so much. Why didn’t anyone tell me it hurts afterwards? Water. Is there any water? A glass from the pool will do. I don’t care. Anything as long as it isn’t champagne.’

Damian reached out a hand for the phone and spoke to someone in the kitchen, all the time aware of Sophia burrowed into the pillow next to him like a very vulnerable, very sleepy kitten. She was adorable.

He frowned slightly, realising it wasn’t an adjective he’d had cause to use before.

The sheet had slipped. He stared at the smooth skin of her shoulder, knowing that no other man had enjoyed the view he was enjoying now. Unable to help himself, he reached out and ran his hand down the length of her arm, feeling her tremble. But still she stayed in his bed. Even though the alcohol had to have worked its way out of her system, she wasn’t showing any more caution than she had the night before.

Tenser than he could ever remember being, Damian sprang from the bed and grabbed boxer shorts and jeans. ‘My advice would be to go and take a long, cold shower.’

‘That sounds like a truly horrible idea.’ Sophia winced as he pulled up his zip. ‘Could you try and be a bit quieter? The noise is killing my head.’

And still she lay there. In his bed. In his home. Trusting him.

His fury with her father growing with every passing minute, Sophia dragged open the door of his bedroom suite, removed the tray from his staff with a nod of thanks and kicked the door shut.

Unaccustomed to playing the role of nurse, he poured iced water into a glass and handed it to her.

Run, part of him screamed. Get out of here while you can.

Still half under the covers, Sophia eyed it doubtfully. ‘I’m not sure if I’m thirsty after all. My stomach isn’t happy.’

‘You’re dehydrated. You need fluid. And then you need food.’

‘How can you mention food at a time like this?’

After a moment’s hesitation, he sat down on the bed next to her and scooped her up, keeping his arm around her bare shoulders. Trying to ignore the softness of her flesh beneath his fingers, he lifted the glass to her lips. ‘Drink. You’ll feel better.’ At least one of them would. He should never have brought her back here. It had been an appalling error of judgement on his part.

‘I feel hideous. And I hate you for being so full of energy first thing in the morning.’ Instead of taking the glass from him, she curled her fingers over his and took a few sips. ‘Thank you. You’re so kind.’

Kind.

The word jarred against his thoughts.

He felt a rush of exasperation. Somehow he had to kill this impression she had of him as some sort of god. ‘You’re naked in my bed and you remember nothing of last night.’

‘I know. I’m furious.’

Damian relaxed slightly. This was better. ‘Good. You should be furious with me for taking advantage of you.’

‘Oh, I’m not furious with you. I’m furious with myself. You kept telling me not to drink. I drank. My fault. How could I be furious with you? You’ve been amazing.’

‘I was the one who stripped you naked.’

‘It would have been horribly uncomfortable sleeping in that dress, so I’m grateful to you.’

He’d spent his life shattering women’s illusions without trying and now, when he wanted to, he didn’t seem able to manage it. Damian shifted tack. ‘It was a very

exciting night. I am now familiar with every delicious inch of your body, and you,’ he murmured, ‘are familiar with every inch of mine.’

Still with her hands locked around his, Sophia took a tiny sip of water. ‘Really?’‘Really. You were so responsive. Unbelievably bold for someone with so little experience. When you suggested I tie you up, I admit I was surprised. I didn’t think someone as innocent as you would be prepared to give a man that much power.’ He’d expected shock. He hadn’t expected a smile.

‘I trust you. Whatever you want to do will always be fine with me.’ Her simple declaration raised his tension levels several notches. Heat exploded through his body.

‘Theé mou, I thought you were so trusting because you were drunk, but apparently not. What does it take to get you to show caution?’

‘I can be cautious when I have to be. I just don’t feel the need when I’m with you.’

‘You should be angry.’

‘I am angry. Angry with myself for ruining a really special night. You warned me to stop drinking and I didn’t listen. You could have left me in a heap on the beach for anyone to take advantage of.’

Damian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘

I took advantage of you.’

‘No, you didn’t. And I’m the one who should be apologising to you for flirting and then collapsing unconscious. Hardly responsible behaviour. You were thoughtful and protective and you lay in bed all night wide awake, frustrated and determined not to touch me because that would have gone against your moral code.’

Why was it that her response was never what he expected? ‘Sophia, I don’t have a moral code.’

‘If that’s true then why didn’t we have sex?’

‘What makes you so sure that we didn’t?’

‘I may be inexperienced but I’m not stupid. I’d know if I’d had sex. And you wouldn’t have done that. Not like that. Not with me. You protected me.’

Her voice husky, she turned her head to look at him and that look contained everything he’d avoided all his life. Depth. He’d always run from it because it led to something he absolutely didn’t want. Not ever. He’d seen what that did. Seen lives ripped apart because of it.

‘Stop turning me into a hero.’

‘You could have taken advantage of me, but you didn’t. You could have left me on the beach, but you didn’t. You put me safely to bed where no harm could come to me.’

My bed.’

‘Where you didn’t touch me.’

The rawness of the attraction was shocking. It pulled at the edges of his control, dragging him downwards. He no longer knew who he was protecting—himself or her.

‘I was doing you a favour.’

‘But you never do people favours, so that makes me feel even more special.’ There was a brief pause and then she gave him a soft look that almost finished him. ‘You’re right. I should take that shower. It will wake me up and make me feel more human.’ Her fingers uncurled from his and she slid from the bed, stood for a moment as if she were getting her balance and then walked towards the bathroom.

Naked.

Deciding that selflessness was definitely an overrated quality, Damian was torn between a desire to flatten her back to the bed or throw a sheet over her. ‘You should cover up.’

‘What would be the point of that? You were the one who undressed me. You’ve already seen everything there is to see.’

* * *

She stood under the shower, feeling the cool water wash over her.

The drink and the tablets had cleared her head and reduced the pain to a dull ache. What couldn’t be so easily erased was the knowledge she’d messed up what should have been the best night of her life so far. She almost wished he’d lived up to his reputation because then she wouldn’t have been standing here bathed in regret.

Switching off the shower, she groped for the towel she’d put out for herself and instead encountered hard male muscle.

Swiping water from her eyes, she opened them. What she saw made her breath catch.

There was nothing tame there. Nothing gentle. Just raw male sexuality.

And he was naked, too.

‘Maybe you should have locked the door, Sophia.’

His silky voice made her stomach flip. ‘Maybe I didn’t see the need.’

‘No?’ He slid his hand behind her neck, his eyes locked on hers as he drew her head towards him. ‘You need to develop a keener sense of self-preservation.’

‘I can protect myself when I have to.’ And she’d had to on so many occasions she didn’t want to think about it. That had been her old life, and this was her new one. And because she didn’t intend to screw her new life up a second time, she placed her hands on his chest.

His skin was warm. His muscles hard and smooth. The difference between her body and his fascinated her, and she explored him with her fingers and then pressed her mouth to his chest and heard his sharply indrawn breath.

‘Are you afraid?’ His voice was rough and she lifted her head.

‘Excited, maybe a little nervous, but never afraid. Not of you.’

‘And if I say that you should be?’

‘I wouldn’t listen. I make up my own mind. I trust myself.’

He smoothed her wet hair away from her face. ‘Your hair is spectacular. You remind me of a mermaid.’

‘You’ve met a lot of mermaids?’

‘You’re the first.’ He lowered his head slowly, his mouth hovering just above hers. ‘And I’ll be your first so if you don’t want this you’d better speak now.’

Her heart was pounding. ‘I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.’‘I do not come with a happy ending attached.’ He spoke the words against her mouth, his fingers locked in her hair. ‘There’s a strong chance I’ll make you cry.’

‘I only cry when I’m happy. Don’t worry, you’re off the hook. I take full responsibility. This is my decision.’ She felt the warmth of his hand at the base of her bare back as he drew her against him. Felt the hardness of his body against hers and closed her eyes, because she’d imagined it for so long in so many different ways but even her dreams had never felt as perfect as this.

‘I might hurt you.’

‘You could never hurt me.’

The hand on her back was now resting on the curve of her hip. ‘I’m terrible at relationships.’

‘I know. I don’t want a relationship.’ But she wanted him and the fact that he was still protecting her made her want him even more.

‘I have a whole new exciting life ahead of me and nothing is going to get in the way.’

‘You’re crazy to do this—you know that, don’t you? You should be slapping my face.’

‘Damian, please.

’ She gripped his biceps. ‘I want this. I want

you. I always have.’ He’d been her dream for so long, her lifeline, the one thing that had kept her going when she’d lain awake at night thinking how much she hated her life.

Something in her voice must have convinced him because he scooped her off her feet and carried her back to the bedroom.

The early morning sun beamed approval as he lowered her onto the bed.

Sophia didn’t care that it was daylight. Daylight meant that she could see him. All of him. Trembling with anticipation, she slid her arms around his neck, drawing him down to her. His hand locked in her hair.

‘We’re taking this slowly.’

‘I don’t want slowly.’

‘I’ll tie you up if I have to.’

‘Then tie me up. Do it.’

His eyes darkened. ‘You shouldn’t say things like that.’

‘Only to you.’

‘You’re far, far too trusting.’ Something flickered in his eyes, the suggestion of a frown mingling with the blaze of raw desire.

If he changed his mind she’d die.

‘Damian—’ Her hands slid down his body and she heard the sharp intake of his breath as she closed her hand around that part of him that was new to her. She felt silk over steel, experimented with the lightest of touches and heard him groan deep in his throat. The sudden switch of power was as intoxicating as the feel of him. The heady, extravagant excitement triggered by the fact that this man, this gorgeous indecently sexy man, wanted her as much as she wanted him was enough to wipe everything from her head except the moment.

Later she’d think of the future but not now, because right now her dream was finally reality.

‘You have to slow down,’ Damian said in a thickened tone, closing his hand over hers to stop her. ‘You’ve never done this before.’

‘But I’m learning fast. Too fast—’ He rolled her under him and brought his mouth down on hers. She felt the erotic slide of his tongue and there was a whoosh of heat through her body that settled itself in her pelvis. The feeling was so maddeningly good that she shifted her hips against him.

He cursed softly and flattened her to the bed. ‘You’re beautiful.’

Without giving her a chance to answer, he continued his intimate exploration of her body, the wickedly sensual stroke of his tongue driving her wild. Pleasure arced through her as he toyed lazily with the tip of each breast and she wriggled and arched, trying to ease the growing ache low in her pelvis.

No one had told her she was beautiful before but he did so now, again and again, in English, in Greek, and with his lips and hands until she was a writhing mass of sensation.

She hadn’t known it was possible to feel this good about herself.

‘Stop moving,’ Damian groaned. ‘You have no idea how hard you’re making this for me.’

It was hard for him? For her it was torture, and when she felt him shift his weight and slide his hand over her quivering abdomen she thought she was going to explode.

‘Please, now,’ she begged.

He gave a ragged laugh and trailed his mouth lower. ‘No way. I’m just getting started, koukla mou.

‘But I really want you to—’

‘I know you do,’ he growled, sheer overload of desire lending an edge to his voice, ‘but I want it to be good for you. Trust me.’

She wanted to tell him that it couldn’t possibly be anything but good, but the smooth slide of his hand to the top of her thighs robbed her of the power of speech. His clever fingers lingered for a moment, tormenting her and magnifying the ache until she was no longer aware of anything except her own physical need. He touched her there and she sobbed with pleasure because he knew everything she didn’t and wasn’t afraid to show her.

She rocked her pelvis against him and instantly he moved his hand.

‘Not yet. Stop moving.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You will. Just lie there. Just—don’t move.’ He locked his hand round her wrists and lifted her arms above her head. ‘Hold on and don’t let go until I give you permission.’

Her hands touched the cool metal of the pretty iron bedframe and she curved her fingers around it, holding on as he’d ordered, out of her mind with sheer overload of sensation. She wanted it all. The scent of his skin. The feel of his hands, his mouth, his body— ‘Please, Damian—’

‘I don’t want to hurt you. I won’t hurt you.’

‘Please—’

‘Don’t speak.’ His voice thickened with raw need, Damian parted her thighs.

She was surprised she didn’t feel embarrassed because it was full daylight, but she knew nothing she ever did with him would embarrass her—not even

this.

This was his mouth on her, his tongue on her and in her, and she heard someone sobbing and realised that the sound was coming from her throat. He spread her wide, opening her to his gaze and his mouth, and his only concession to her innocence was his patience. With each skilled slide and lick of his clever tongue the warmth grew to heat, and it spread and consumed her until holding onto the bed felt like holding on for her life, because it was the only thing anchoring her. He demanded everything and she gave him what he demanded because she was no longer in control. He was.

It was almost a relief to feel the first fluttering of her body but he immediately stilled.

‘No. Not yet.’ His voice was rough. ‘Relax. Do you hear me? Relax.’

She was almost crazy with the need and she tried to move her hips against his hand, but he withdrew his fingers from her gently.

‘Not yet. I want to be inside you when you come. I want to feel it. Be part of it.’

Her eyes had closed but now they flickered open and she was treated to a close-up private view of sheer masculine power. Dressed, he was gorgeous, but undressed he was spectacular. Bronzed skin sheathed smooth curves of hard muscle and the dark hair that hazed the centre of his chest trailed down over his flat stomach and disappeared out of view. But she’d already seen and she knew, and she wanted to know more.

‘Then do it,’ she begged hoarsely. ‘Do it now. Please. You’re driving me crazy.’

‘So impatient.’ A sexy smile hovering on his mouth, Damian shifted over her and curved her leg behind his back. ‘I’m going to torture you with pleasure,’ he murmured against her mouth, ‘until you’re mindless and begging—’‘I’m begging now.’ Her gaze collided with his and every bone in her body melted under the fire in his eyes. ‘It’s you. You make me—crazy.’

His thick dark lashes lowered fractionally and he lowered his mouth to hers again, his kiss teasing and seductive. ‘This is just the beginning.’ The subtle stroke of his tongue and his skilled exploration of her mouth left her shaking and Sophia kissed him back, her uninhibited response drawing a similar degree of reaction from him.

She was dimly aware that Damian had pulled back slightly—that he was reaching for something from the table by the bed.

A moment later he slid one hand into her hair. Dazed and desperate, Sophia’s eyes collided with the fierce passion in his.

‘If I hurt you, tell me,’ Damian said thickly, his other hand sliding under her writhing hips as he lifted her against him.

She could feel the male power of him but she was so wet, so ready, and she knew he’d done that for her, done everything he could to make her first time good.

His body felt hard, male and thoroughly unfamiliar. She closed her eyes and held her breath, just waiting, waiting, conscious of his leashed power and superior strength and wondering how this could possibly work out well despite his skill.

Braced for discomfort, she was surprised by his gentleness and care.

She’d expected him to thrust, but he entered her slowly, carefully, and she held her breath, the feeling of warmth and fullness taking her by surprise. She felt him pause and then his mouth brushed hers as he kissed her gently.

‘Relax and open your eyes. I want you looking at me. If I’m hurting you, I want to know.’

She opened them.

Her heart slamming against her chest, Sophia stared up at him, her gaze trapped by his. It was clear how much each slow, purposeful stroke was costing him and Sophia slid her hands over his shoulders, feeling tension under hard, sleek muscle.

And then he did thrust, as if he could no longer help himself. He thrust deep and she held her breath because it felt like too much.

Buried deep inside her, Damian sensed the change in her and paused, his breathing uneven and his eyes darkened to a dangerous shade of black. ‘You feel incredible,’ he said thickly. ‘Tell me you’re OK—say something.’

But she couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find any words to express what she was feeling. All she could do was move and when she did that the breath hissed through his teeth.

‘I’ll take that as an indication that I’m not hurting you.’ He groaned, dropping his mouth to hers. His kiss was raw, passionate and hotly sexual, the skilled slide of his tongue winding the excitement tighter and tighter until Sophia was aware of nothing except the building tension in her body.

Each controlled thrust of his body was designed to draw the maximum response from hers until the ache inside her grew agonising, her need for him a ravenous hunger that swept away sanity. Heat engulfed her as he drove her towards the peak with a smooth, expert rhythm and then her body tightened and she was launched into an entirely different world, a world that consisted of nothing but her and this man—just the two of them, blended in every way that mattered. Overwhelmed by sheer physical excitement, she was trapped in a vicious cycle of pleasure that sent spasm after spasm of pulsing ecstasy through her thoroughly over-sensitised body and drove him to the same point.

It was the most perfect moment of her life.

And when she finally emerged from that suspended state of erotic intensity, Damian kissed her gently and rolled onto his side, taking her with him, stroking her hair away from her face with a hand that wasn’t quite steady.

‘That,’ he said hoarsely, ‘was incredible.’

Dazed, Sophia kept her face against his shoulder, but he gave a low laugh and forced her to look at him.

‘You’re not hiding from me.’ He stroked her flushed cheek with gentle fingers, his gaze searching. ‘Are you OK?’

Lifting her head, Sophia tumbled into that dark gaze. ‘I feel amazing,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s better than champagne.’

Humour in his eyes, he drew her head to his and kissed her.‘Much better than champagne...’

Still dazed by her own shocking reaction to him, Sophia closed her eyes.

She’d been worried her dream wouldn’t live up to expectation, but it had.

He made her feel utterly desirable, irresistible and beautiful, and she’d never felt like that in her life before—had never imagined it was possible to feel like this. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘Thank you for making it special.’

He muttered something inaudible in Greek and lowered his forehead to hers. ‘I am now officially addicted to your body.’

Sophia smiled up at him, feeling like a cross between a goddess and a seductress. ‘I think I’m possibly addicted to yours, too.’

‘Good. In that case I’m going to break one of my unbreakable rules and keep you here for another night.’

That statement was a reality check. A dark cloud passing in front of the sun. A reminder that this part of her life hadn’t officially started yet. Soon. ‘I can’t do that. I have to go home.’ Disappointment thudded through her and he lifted his head and frowned.

‘Why?’

‘I have to get back to Leonidas.’

‘I thought you wanted to assert your independence?’

‘I do. And to do that I have to go back to Leonidas.’ She told herself that was her decision. She was going back for her mother, not her father. And nothing, not even the thought of going home, was going to spoil this moment. Her active mind quickly spun a scenario where she was living here with Damian, spending her days with her body tangled with his.

She stared up at him, wondering if he was imagining the same thing, but his handsome face was inscrutable.

‘Returning home isn’t asserting your independence. It’s regressing.’

‘It’s just a temporary thing.’ She’d kept her plan secret, protected it as carefully as a mother would her child, desperate for it to grow, but all her defences were ripped away after the intimacies they’d shared. ‘I have to get back to the island before my father returns and discovers I’ve gone. If he knows I came to you it will be difficult for me.’

‘Returns?’ There was a sudden tension in his shoulders. ‘You mean he isn’t there?’

‘No. Once a year he spends a week on Crete. That’s how I was able to get away.’

She wondered why they were spoiling the moment by talking about her father.

She wondered why he was suddenly so still. Why his expression was guarded.

‘So you were hoping to return and leave again without him knowing?’

‘Of course. Why do you think I came to you? Why do you think I dressed as a nun? He never would have let me leave had he been on the island. I’ve planned this for so long—you have no idea.’

‘Why go back at all? Stay here with me.’

The invitation was so tempting. ‘I can’t do that. There are things I need from the island—’ Years of playing a part stopped her revealing that final secret part of herself. It was how they lived. Pretending that this was normal. Keeping up the show for the outside world. ‘Important things. But I don’t plan to stay for any time at all. I have to be away again before he returns.’

‘Because you’re afraid he won’t want you to leave? Stand up to him.’ His tone cooler, Damian eased himself away from her and sat up. ‘Show him you’re a grown-up and he might treat you that way.’

Missing the intimacy, Sophia sat up, too. ‘You don’t know my father.’

‘I know that being independent means taking responsibility for your actions and owning them. There is no reason to hide this from him. Tell him you’re with me. Show him you’re not afraid.’

She was afraid. She’d be a fool not to be and she wasn’t a fool.

Sophia thought about what happened when someone stood up to her father and she thought of her mother, alone and vulnerable on Leonidas Island.

‘I can’t do that. Not yet.’ The magic had gone so she slid from the bed.

She felt different.

She felt beautiful.

She was aware of herself in a way that felt new. And she was aware of him. Of the way he watched her as she picked a dress from the clothes he’d bought her. Of the way he looked, his eyes hooded and his jaw shadowed by blue-black stubble.

‘Come back to bed. I’ll fly you back to Leonidas Island later if that’s what you want. We’ll pick up whatever it is you need and then you can come back to Athens with me. I’ll help you with your business.’

‘I have to do this by myself.’

She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the jets of water slide over her body. Closing her eyes, she reached for the soap but he was there before her.

‘This soap smells like you.’

She smiled and pushed her soaking-wet hair away from her face as he slid his hands down her body. ‘It’s my soap. It comes in the same three scents as the candles.’

‘At least you know a bit more about seduction now.’

As he kissed her neck she closed her eyes, but this time the anxiety twisting inside her prevented her from relaxing.

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and grabbed a towel.

‘I have to go.’

It felt urgent now, to get this done so that she could start her new life. Excitement bubbled under the feeling of apprehension. She walked back into the bedroom and picked up the pretty linen dress she’d chosen from the clothes he’d provided. Her hesitation was driven by years of living with her father. He wasn’t here, and yet she could hear his voice telling her to change into something more suitable. Telling her that the dress was too short, too eye-catching, too—everything.

Then she remembered her father wasn’t going to see her wearing it.

From now on the only time she heard his voice would be in her head.

There would be no row because this was the last time she was going home and her father wouldn’t be there.

Damian strolled back into the bedroom, a towel knotted around his lean hips.

Determined not to be distracted, Sophia let her own towel drop to the floor and reached for the dress.

Behind her she heard the sharp intake of his breath. Assuming his response was because she was naked, she lifted her head and smiled at him. He was looking at her body.

‘Theé mou, did I do that? I hurt you?’ He was across the room in three strides, his hands gentle on her arms as he turned her and took a closer look at her back and then her arms. ‘You have bruises. Finger-marks.’

Sophia twisted away from him and pulled the dress over her head quickly. ‘It’s fine. It’s nothing.’ It wasn’t nothing, of course, but it wasn’t anything she wanted him to know about. It was her past and she wanted it to stay in her past.

His face was suddenly pale. ‘I thought I’d been gentle.’

‘You were gentle. You were brilliant. Honestly, Sophia, it’s nothing—’ She stumbled over the words, feeling guilty that she had to let him think that but unable to give him an alternative explanation. ‘And now I really need to go.’

‘You should have told me I was hurting you. I would have stopped.’‘You didn’t hurt me.’ No way could she tell him, or anyone, the truth—and she didn’t need to because she was fixing it. ‘I just bruise easily, OK? It’s nothing to do with you.’ Not looking at him, she scooped her damp hair into a ponytail.

Now that the moment had come, she just wanted it over with. She wanted to get it done. ‘I’ll take the ferry to Poulos and the nuns will take me back by boat.’

‘I’ll take you back to Leonidas Island.’

‘No! Someone might see you and call my father. I can’t risk him knowing I’ve left the island. I need a head start on him.’

‘Sophia—’ His tone raw, Damian dragged his hand through his hair and shot her a look she couldn’t interpret. ‘He probably already knows.’

In the process of sliding her feet into her shoes, she assumed she’d misheard him. ‘How can he possibly know? He’s with one of his women. He won’t be home for another six days.’

‘He knows because he will have seen the photographs.’

‘Photographs?’ Sophia stared at him, her brain infuriatingly slow as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. ‘What photographs?’

‘The photographs of us together. You and me.’

‘Someone took photographs?’ Sophia felt physically nauseated. The bag slipped from her hand. ‘How could they? This is your home. There were no journalists. Please tell me you’re joking.’

‘I’m not joking.’

‘No—’ She felt the colour drain from her face, felt her fingers grow cold and her body sway. She saw the sudden narrowing of his eyes as he saw the change in her.

‘I don’t see why it would bother you. Nothing else has bothered you. Drinking too much champagne, waking up in my bed, having sex—’‘That’s different. My father doesn’t know about any of that.’ Or at least she hadn’t thought he did.

‘So this new life of yours only works if your father doesn’t know about it? The first step to independence is standing up for yourself. Just tell your father what you told me. That you want to start living your life. You’re not asking him for money. You’re just telling him how it is.’ There was a tightness around his mouth and a coldness in his eyes. ‘What can he do?’

Sophia knew exactly what he could do. And she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do it.

‘How do you even know there are photographs?’

Please let him be wrong.

‘Show them to me.’

Unsmiling, Damian reached for his phone and accessed the internet. A few taps of his fingers later he was showing her photographs that snapped the leash on her panic.

‘Oh, no...’ Her voice was a whisper. ‘It’s you and I. Kissing. And it’s a close-up. He’s going to go wild. Who took that photo?

Who?’

‘Cory, I suppose.’ The question didn’t appear to interest him much. ‘She writes a gossip column for a glossy magazine and for other places if the story is juicy enough.’

Sophia processed that information. ‘But if you know she writes a gossip column then you must have known there was a risk she’d take a photograph—that she’d tell the world about me. You must have known—you...’ Her voice tailed off as her brain finally caught up. ‘Wait a minute. She said something about you being a Machiavellian genius and I had no idea what she meant, but you

did know. You did it on purpose. You invited me to the party with the express purpose of upsetting my father.’

‘I invited you to the party because I needed a date and there you were, all vulnerable and sexy mixed in together—it seemed like the perfect solution.’

‘And because you knew it would really upset my father?’

His eyes were cool. ‘Yes, I knew it would upset your father. But presumably so did you. If he’d approved of what you were doing you wouldn’t have had to come to me in the first place.’

‘But I didn’t want him to find out yet. It was so important that he didn’t find out—why do you think I came to you in disguise?’ Realising how naïve she’d been to trust him, Sophia took a step backwards, stumbling over his shoes discarded on the floor. ‘You warned me—everyone warned me about you—even Evelyn—and I didn’t listen.’ Because she hadn’t wanted to. Because she’d spun a fantasy in her head and she’d lived with that fantasy for five years and she wasn’t going to let anyone destroy it because it had been her lifeline. Her hope. Her dream. ‘I thought you were being kind and thoughtful but all the time you were just making sure I came with you so that you could score a point against a business rival.’

His expression was blank. ‘This is not about business. I separate the two.’

But she didn’t believe him. No longer believed in anyone but herself. ‘What sort of a man are you?’

‘A man who isn’t afraid to confront your father—which is why you came to me in the first place. I am exactly the person you knew I was when you walked into my office on that first day.’ He snapped the words. ‘It isn’t my fault if you turned me into some sort of god in your head.’

‘Well, don’t worry. I don’t think that any more.’ She choked on the words. ‘I can’t believe you’ve done this. This is worse than anything.’ Because now she was alone. She was on her own. There was no one out there who would help her. No one who cared. Certainly not this man.

‘I’ve done you a favour. Your father will realise you’re serious about wanting your independence. And before you get all sanctimonious can I remind you again that you came to me?’ he said flatly. ‘I didn’t kidnap you, force you into a dress and thrust a glass of champagne in your hand. You were the one who begged me for money and you were pretty much willing to do anything to get it, I might add. If you cast your mind back to your drunken episode my behaviour was impeccable. You did everything you could to seduce me and I said no.’

Humiliation piled onto anger and misery. ‘You’re just a saint.’

‘I never claimed to be a saint. You were the one who came to me in a nun’s outfit with ridiculous expectations.’

She stared at him, mute, seeing the uncomfortable truth in everything he was saying. It had been her decision to come. Her decision to drink champagne. Her decision to kiss him and go to bed with him.

She’d wanted so badly to be able to make her own decisions and all she’d done was make bad ones. Lonely and desperate, she’d built him up in her mind as some sort of perfect being and the truth was a horrible blow.

He’d used her to score points against her father and she was the one who would pay the price. And her mother.

Thinking of it made her limbs shake. ‘You’re right, of course. From now on I’ll be making more careful decisions. And the first will be to stay away from men like you. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? You wanted me to be more cynical. Well, now I am. I’m officially cynical.’

His features taut, he stepped towards her. ‘Sophia—’‘Don’t touch me. You only invited me to the party because you knew it would upset him.’

‘That isn’t true. I invited you to the party because you’re sexy as hell and your innocence was—refreshing.’

‘Well, I’m not innocent any more.’

‘You are overreacting. This will be to your advantage. Once he realises you’re serious about being independent and making your business a success he’ll let you go.’ Those wide shoulders lifted in a dismissive shrug. ‘I’ve done you a favour. There’s no point in rebelling if no one knows you’re rebelling.’

‘I’ve told you this isn’t about rebellion. It was never about rebellion.’ Sophia could hardly breathe as her mind ran swiftly through the possible consequences.

‘If you allow your father to bully you, he will always bully you.’

‘You have no idea. No idea what you’ve done. No idea of the consequences that this will have.’ Galvanised into action, she stumbled around the room, gathering her things and stuffing them frantically into her bag. ‘I have to leave, right now. Is there a ferry from here?’ How long did she have?

How long?

She was panicking too much to make the calculation and truthfully it was impossible to know because she didn’t know what time her father would have seen the photographs.

He swore under his breath. ‘You need to calm down—’

‘When would these photos have come out? What time?’ Someone, somewhere would have seen them. She was sure of that. Her father was so paranoid and self-absorbed that he had whole teams of people scouring the media for mentions of himself. The moment the images had appeared on the internet someone would have seen them and would have told him. She had no doubt that he already knew everything. Nothing escaped him—especially something as catastrophic as this.

‘I don’t understand why you’re so concerned. I’ve already told you I’m giving you the money. You’ll be able to have the lifestyle you want. Buy what you like without your father’s approval.’

All the money in the world would be useless if she couldn’t get her mother away from the island.

‘What time?’

Damian flicked his gaze back to the screen of his phone. ‘This one was posted around midnight.’

‘Midnight?’ Hours ago. And she’d been lying in his bed, basking in the ability to make her own choices, unaware that she’d made nothing but bad ones. Fear gripped her like a nasty virus. She felt dizzy with it. Sick. ‘If my father saw these at midnight then that means—’ He might already be on his way back to the island and her mother was alone and unprotected. ‘I have to leave now.’

Damian swore under his breath and reached out his hand but she flinched away from him, flattening herself against the wall.

‘Get away from me. Don’t pretend you care about me,’ she mumbled. ‘I know you don’t. I don’t ever want you to touch me again.’

‘Fine. I won’t touch you.’ He spoke through clenched teeth. ‘But at least stand still and look at me. The way to handle this is not to sprint home like a good, obedient girl.’

‘You have no idea. You have no idea what you’ve done.’

‘At worst I’ve annoyed your father and reinforced the message that you want to be independent.’

‘You might have taken that opportunity away from me—’ Her throat was thick with tears. If her father returned home before her, her mother would be too afraid to leave. She’d lose her nerve as she’d lost it so many times before. ‘I want to leave. Now.’

‘Fine, if that’s what you want. Run home. That’s clearly where you belong. You’re a child, not a woman.’ Damian’s face was a frozen mask as he strode across the room and opened a safe concealed in the wall. ‘I promised you money. I always keep my promises.’

‘Because you’re such a good guy?’

‘No.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Not because of that. Call my office any time you need business help.’ He dropped the money into her bag and strode towards the door. ‘I’ll arrange for your transport home.’